A FAMILY who lost their two-year-old daughter to complications with meningitus are celebrating the birth of another child.

Hope Summer-Rose Heeks was born at 3am on Wednesday, July 21, weighing 5lb 14oz to parents Ray and Julie Heeks of Guide, Blackburn.

Ray, 42, who works for Twin Valley Homes, said: “The kids love her to bits.

Our three-year-old son Logan won’t leave her alone, and we have to tell him she needs to sleep!”

The couple also have daughters Honour, 16, Grace, 12, and adopted son Stephen, 24.

Daughter Eva died in December 2004.

She was left profoundly disabled after contracting meningitis when she was six days old, and was cared for by Derian House Children’s Hospice, near Chorley.

Since Eva’s death, Ray and Julie have set up the Eva Heeks Trust, which aims to help families of children with life-limiting illnesses by funding essential equipment.

They have recently donated £1,000 to the Madison Allan Appeal, and have funded a special chair for a young girl with cerebral palsy.